Pakkrat

You know you are about to visit Megan when the sign ahead says: "Sector wall in 3.0k" while you are warping 5570 and having missed your targeted gate. Checking his blind spot before changing lanes, this is the Pakkrat.

I see that the Tactical Advantage Omega has a Jumpstart (Equip) that improves jumpstart implementation time by 50%. Since I'm at work, I haven't had the time to look up the one that adds levels to Jumpstart skill. From the technical archives of NET-7 SOL, this is the Pakkrat.

There are devices out there that cut down the time needed to Jumpstart. There are also devices out there that add levels to the Jumpstart skill. I also willing to bet that you fine pilots have tried them, yes? From drydock at NET-7 SOL, this is the Pakkrat

Sure, there's a need to Dismantle in space. Dismantling, items you can Analyze or not, allows the Privateer to turn a system that does not stack in to a pile of components that does stack in the cargo hold. That would be worth something and be a valuable cargo ability no one else has. Doing it in space allows a group or a raid to continue without having to space unwanted systems. In that Terminal Independence is reactor intensive, the skill becomes a liability if the fighting continues. As to the "skill point sink", I feel that if the Privateer does not receive a class-only skill, such as the idea I had (or something similar), then Progen Privateers will be able to run around with all the skills they want in the list they have to currently chose from. They will have all their skills, never needing a Call Forward, while the rest of the galaxy has to think real hard about their skill point expenditures. The Privateer will know and have points to spare. I've been playing with the Planner. The Privateer with a missing skill can purchase what he wants in his vessel and have a surplus. This in itself is a proto-exploit in that the Privateer finishes developing his career earlier than any other class. Another $.02 from the Pakkrat.

I care very little about prints and analyzing in this thread. I feel that the Privateer should have an edge in chance to critically dismantle any system. I also feel that it would be cool to have terminal independence which kinda sounds like having a "chop-shop" in space, much like a Privateer or any other black market parts dealer. I don't know if the coding will allow for such. I say this so that you know where my focus is. Analyzing and printing is tertiary in my suggestion. I feel that even if the Privateer doesn't get to build a system, he should at least be able to gut it for its components at higher success rates and chances to critical the dismantle. Try not to read too much in the Analyze section. I agree that all should be kept where they are racially. With five weapons and four devices, the Privateer gets a extra weapon in Shield Inversion. Tack on a Sentinel's Repulsor Field from a friend and you have seven sources of doing damage. That's still less than a Warrior with the same. I don't think the Privateer needs any more combat skills given Menace. I think this idea of mine may see improvement through your responses, pilots. And I thank you all for considering the idea. Just as well, thanks for viewing and responding. Via satellite, this is the Pakkrat

Hello all, Again, as I do my best creative thinking when I'm supposed to be doing something else, (e.g. work, chores, massage therapy, etc.), I came up with a suggestion for the Privateer Dismantle skill. Once again, I am no Developer nor am I out there to break the game with something outlandish. The idea just sorta popped in my head and I gnawed on it all day yesterday. I'll try to put some story behind this idea as well to provide some thematic justifications to this idea. The Collegia, late to the greater SolSec markets in having to first split off from the Sabine Order in disgust and betrayal or whathaveyou, began to see that the various industries were far outstripping the Progen Republic in every venue except personal development. InfinitCorp, GETCo, Sundari, Tada-O, even Blacksun, CE3K, and Warlock had the Collegia up against a wall of monopolies in every sector. To that, the Collegia developed the Privateer ship and class of Progen determined to vanguard the Progen Republic into the markets. With the Privateer comes the Dismantle skill. In its efforts to catch up, learn, and then sell for a profit for the betterment of the Republic, the Collegia managed to outfit the Privateer the means to discover systems, break them down, and see what makes them tick. Dismantle has seven 'dots' and is power intensive, definitely not meant to be used in combat. Dot 1 - Increased Terminal Analyze Chance of Success. Increased Terminal Dismantle Critical Chance of Success for Components. Dot 2 - Increased Terminal Analyze Chance of Success II. Increased Terminal Dismantle Critical Chance of Success for Weapons. Dot 3 - Increased Terminal Analyze Chance of Success III. Increased Terminal Dismantle Critical Chance of Success for Shields. Dot 4 - Terminal Independence: The Privateer may now Dismantle in space by activating the skill, clicking on the target system and Dismantling it with components entering the cargo hold if there is space available. (This disallows use of Terminal Overrides, but allows use of Duct Tape, Data Cubes, etc.) The process costs energy from the ship's reactor. The higher level the system, the greater the reactor drain. Dot 5 - Increased Terminal Dismantle Critical Chance of Success for Reactors. Decreased Terminal Independence reactor cost to ship's reactor. Dot 6 - Eureka!: The Privateer may Dismantle any system from a Terminal for its components, but will still be denied a print of anything Engines or Progen Restricted. (Terminal Overrides allowed.) Decreased Terminal Independence reactor cost to ship's reactor II. Dot 7 - Reverse Engineering: The Privateer may now Dismantle any system in space by activating the skill on the target system, Analyzing systems built by Progen or Dismantle-only on systems that are Engines or Progen Restricted. (Disallows Terminal Overrides, but allows for Duct Tape, Data Cubes, etc.) Decreased Terminal Independence cost to ship's reactor III. This idea for Dismantle came as an idea for Privateer' freedom from station Terminals to break down looted and manufactured systems while still on-site or while still at a raid. This would save the Privateer time and travel somewhat. It would make them a valuable asset on-location when loot is parcelled out to participants. Story-wise, the Privateer is trying to catch the Collegia up with the megacorporations of the Terrans and the technologically advanced Jenquai, from the machine shop of his own vessel if he has to. Privateers are given marque from the Republic, (hence the term 'privateer') to hunt, loot, learn, and reverse-engineer the technologies of Progen competitors and enemies. I am open to constructive suggestions as to how this could be improved. Again, I am not trying to break the game by some fluke in the system. The idea just sorta spontaneously came to me haphazardly. If this idea can be improved to the point that it could feasibly fit into the game, then I'd feel truly satisfied that I contributed to the race/class in some way. On location at Arx Bursa, this is the Pakkrat. PP 49 et al

Terminal et al, here is my experience with beginning Stage I Agrippa (Shields and Devices), As a Sentinel (I hate the abbreviations), I waited until Overall Level 100, Build Devices and Build Shields 4, and if memory serves 2500+ Collegia. But there were hurdles. From what I gather, there are negatives out there. Try not to let your InfinitiCorp and Red Dragon Factions standings outstrip your Collegia and Centuriata. Agrippa Technologies hates InfinitiCorp and the Tongs. I lost 4+ million credits due to apologies to Agrippa above and beyond the cost to enter examinations, buy comps, dismantle, manufacture, and other maze madness. Avoid your Hull Upgrade 135 if you intend to enter Stage I before Overall Level 135, or else you'll be spending Gold instead of Silver token(s). Watch my reports and try to glean clues. I'm not just blowing smoke up your thrusters, pilots. (Eww, that came out badly.) Someday, someone will write a book, Agrippa Technologies for Dummies and make a killing, but it won't be me, so sorry. On location at Nostrand Vor City, this is the Pakkrat.

Pilots, Please remember that if we the player pilots give the GMs, Developers, et al time to actually play and see for themselves the troubles, issue, glitches, and whathaveyou, then they will have a firsthand spanking that we player pilots have been crying about for the past 4+ months. Then they will see up front, close and personal, the effects their tweaking and adjusting will do to them. Please allow them to feel the pain and anguish they have caused us. It will knock out that dirty little need to "submit a ticket with screenshots or it didn't happen". That's the policy I've listened to since September '12 and it's a relatively safe one. But faster still is to let them run their heads into the glitches and nerfs, the overpowered and the easy-peasie raids. If we say, involve the GMs and Developers some space in our Guild raids, boss runs, and general manufacture terminal madness, then they will receive a healthy dose of what we, the player pilots are suffering/exploiting. This is part of their job. Please give them time to do so. From the Telemetry Department at NET-7 SOL, this is the Pakkrat. PS 141, PP 49, TT 41 Pakkrat Industries - What can PI do for you? Net-7 News Builders Inc. Doctor of Call Forward Agrippa Tech Undergraduate

NET-7 SOL - Lost and found ships that still have dormant pilots in cryostasis, are by galactic policy towed to the one location that can alert the galaxy to the find...NET-7 SOL. There, they await for the pilot's onboard emergency cryocapsules to revive the pilot. Due to SolSec Treaty stipulations, pilots in such a state are still off-limits to salvage mining and looters. Station towing crews park the craft and must wait. This is problematic because the pilot registry often swells due to the abandonment of these unlucky pilots. When, miraculously at times, a pilot does awaken, he finds himself at the newscorp station and is treated for cryosickness and their craft is usually repaired by then. Then the station monitors and registers the vessel as the pilot takes up where they left off. Only a few times has a pilot awoken to find their licenses revoked and reset to zero. They then must restart their careers from the very beginning. This is a regrettable loss, yet at least the pilot has their health, craft, and base systems to get underway. So be sure to thank a salvage wrecker the next time he Jumpstarts your vessel after you've been incapacitated. He's out there too in a dangerous galaxy, hauling you in. For Net-7 News, this is the Pakkrat.

From Net-7 News, welcome back to the Emulator, pilot. It is refreshing to hear of more new pilots and returning pilots. There is plenty of content, path choices, and dangerous ways to get incapacitated out there. From scuttlebugs to capitalship-sized Nagifar, the Emulator has all the mobs you regretted encountering. There are plenty of small, mid-size, and corporate scope Guilds out there in the Galaxy for you to choose from. One thing that brought this reporter back to the helm was the cooperative and helpful pilots out there. If they don't know the Emulator inside and out, they can point you to the database that does. Don't be fooled though, pilot. The Emulator can be punishing. The mobs, long travel hours, maze-like missions, and raids can erode your Real Life (TM) time with interesting content and playability. So, lock and load because the game has changed from live. Expect some new and enticing details in the sharp gears and grinding cogs. From 61Cygni to Deneb, Net-7 News and the Pakkrat welcomes you.

I'd like to revisit this. By now many have seen the flavorful, humorous, and zany antics of one or more of my toons. Of the three I have, two are yet unGuilded. Should there arise a roleplaying Guild, I would be interested in feeling it out with one of my free agents. I have available Pakkrat, a Terran Trader and Pakkrateus, a Progen Privateer. Should there already be such a Guild, I'd like a /tell sometime to either of those toons. Now a few, might say, "Start one up yourself, Pakkrat." Unfortunately, I have not the time nor the babysitting skills. Rather I'm an enabler or instigator following in the wake of fun, putting momentum behind it. In the end, this is in the name of entertainment and fun. Story is just as important an element as that powerlevelling drop everyone's just gotta have.- Via satellite, this is the Pakkrat Update 1/31/2013 NET-7 SOL - How about the terrace above the lounge on NET-7 SOL for a gather point for Roleplayers? Saturn is almost smack-dab in the middle of the galaxy and a crossroads for all the races. It is one or two jumps from wefts. Plus you get to look down on the jobbers below. Just a thought. The only other station that has an off-the-path area that I can remember is Detention Center Onorom, but I doubt that would be fun listening to screams of torture and anguish.

I also want to mention that my hunting season suggestion need not be held in only one month per year. The Factions wouldn't cooperate together like that. I suggest rather to have each Faction's hunting season staggered over the months of a year. There are 12 months in a year. There are less than 12 hard to please Factions that are present, not on the PDA, or hiding in the background. I think that if hunting seasons were implemented, they should be spread about the entire year. I offered this suggestion due to my own experience with hard to please Factions hiding backstage. There currently is zero opportunities to improve my standings with NET-7 SOL which becomes a full Faction somewhere down the Timeline. I get an odd sickly feeling every time I pull in to the station at Saturn which is Yellow to me. When I asked about this, we went through the list of opportunities to improve standings with the NET-7 SOL Faction. No terminal jobs, no mission givers, and no clues as to who Net-7News finds needing putting down. To that end, I did write six repeatable missions and submitted them to the Developers. No rush there. Anyone with any idea how often I get razzed for being Yellow to NET-7 SOL? Yellow journalism. Rats in investigative reporting. The like. Hence, I suggested a hunting season for those obscure Factions and hard to please Factions. By limiting the chosen hunting season to a single month out of the year, the Faction shows some character, adding a dimension of timing to their needs and trends. Then next month another Faction offers up its hunting season. This way, pilots can plan for hunts discover what the Faction wants killed, looted, or turned in. And so on. I feel that this does not break any canon, nor does it jeopardize the Emulator design. Finally, pilots can feel somewhat for the Faction they are hunting mobs. The story element provides a dash of Faction loyalty and partitioning rather than just being on a list in our PDA. If you can find some way to make a Faction special and unique then pilots will flock to their favorite and hunt like crazy. Then come the Faction T-shirts. "Don't shoot! I'm with NET-7 SOL!" "Surrender yer booty to the Red Dragon!" and "I answered the Call and all I got was this lousy shirt." By the time certain storyline milestones are reached, an affiliation loyalty will have developed as it does in other games and MMORPGs. By allowing hunting seasons, pilots are enabled to pick their favorite Faction and feel like they belong. And that lends to my previous posts involving roleplaying. But that is beside this post's point. Craving Nommos chops, this is the Pakkrat. Progen Sentinel 137 Pakkrat Industries - What can PI do for you? Net-7 News Reporter Builders Inc.

I've given this some thought all day at work today for a solution or at least a temporary fix. Here's some ideas that I came up with. For those hard-to-please Factions, have each declare one or more biological mob they they don't like, find bothersome, or just Dem's Good Eatin'. Then have a single month out of each year that that mob is worth Faction to the sponsoring hunting season. The mobs could be anything from unpredictable poprock mobs (which adds uncertainty and danger to clearing out those pesky poprocks), to rare CL mobs out in a single remote sector. Each Faction could have its own reasons for open season on their chosen prey mob. Then, for that month as the hunt comes into seasonal favor, the chosen mob awards Faction increase to pilots that encounter and defeat it. Maybe during that hunting season, the mob coughs up an item that the sponsoring Faction wants, e.g. Jenquai artifacts that a Sult swallowed to act as gastroliths aiding digestion. Maybe a Faction has plans for the bio-bits brought back to that Faction's representative, e.g. Psionics that want to eat Brains to heighten their psionic powers in hopes of one day escaping the tyranny of InfinitiCorp. Perhaps during a season, the jaded Glenn Commission finds the poprock eyeball creatures as potential jewelry and wants them slain and hauled in for "a good word." How about dem hungry youngins? The Bogeril gotta eat, right? Nagifar steaks for everybody in month of August! Perhaps the problematic manes essences can be refined and used in coating signal dishes for NET-7 SOL and they re-coat their antennae with the harvested stuff one month out of a year. You want a new Herbal Remedy? How's about those poprock mushroom critter mobs for Chavez Tea? Are you a pirate? Then step up to the bar and heap your plate high with Arctic Drake sirloins at the Red Dragon fireworks festival held annually at Queen Anne's Revenge! For those humans out on the fringe space, the Freespacers have hunted pineapples for decades as a seasonal delicacy. Could the spinal cord stem cells of a certain breed of spindle mobs relieve the pain of Anseria's Landauer Syndrome flareups? Each Faction can provide a favored mob target, year-round or seasonally for pilots to win their favor. The mobs can be common targets with less-common needed drops. The prey can be rare or only found by those brave enough to poke poprocks with a mining beam. It seems to me that this is all doable as an alternative to breaking the game's canon or Emulator's design. Now, I'm not saying do this for each and every Faction, just the ones that aren't listed on the PDA, or ones that will someday be listed. Then watch as hunting becomes purposeful, story-driven, humanitarian even. The lil Bogeril chirrens are starving, by Jove! Again, I'm no Developer, and I don't profess to know how hard or easy it would be to write in a hunting season. But it would save canon and not break the Emulator. Get out there and really hunt for those Factions. Excuse me, there's a huge Centuriata at the front desk needing a Call Forward, Pakkrat Net-7 Reporter Pakkrat Industries - What can PI do for you? Builders Inc.

Thieves and Treaties Pakkratius sat in the cockpit of his Sentinel ship "Culler", his eyes on the target acquisition display. His left hand was on the sensor interface. It was his right hand that clenched the helm that itched just now. The index finger ached to squeeze the trigger and let fly plasma ammunition from all four of his vessel's weapons. As he watched the target with anger and disbelief, his mind re-wound the day's events. At license 132, the Pakkratius was nearing the deadline for completion of Agrippa Technologies' Stage III entry examination. After completion of the secretive Collegia corporation's grunt work tasks and mind-numbing maze running, the Sabine Sentinel was ready to be done with the entire line of Agrippa Tech's madness. He had sweated out both Stage I and Stage II. At the persistent urging from a Terran Trader with an addiction to Pez candies, Pakkratius had even given out both of his Invitations. If that money-grubbing, yet trusted, Terran only knew what he was getting into, he'd space the invites. Pakkratius had even gone so far as to give all who actively sought out entrance testing for Agrippa Technologies the moniker "Agrippa masochists". Pakkratius himself merely needed one or two more licenses, "dings" as they were called, to qualify for the examinations. Thus he had decided to go mining asteroids. It was a relatively safe and peaceful job, almost a past-time. He had already gathered many of the ores and biological bits that a Magister Magnate had listed to clue Pakkratius ahead of time for learning to Call Forward. The Call Forward was the Sabine Order's main claim to fame in the Republic's eyes. Soon it would be Pakkratius's turn to take those examinations as well. Even his social buddies were pressuring the Sentinel to hurry up and become their "Doctor". It had been a desire of his own as well, so he believed. Between Agrippa and the Call Forward examinations was his Magister Magnate promotion and the costly hull upgrade to his vessel "Culler". Clearly the ship had seen better days. Through hardships, battles, long hours of mediocre travel speeds, the Culler had seen most of the galaxy, minus a few sectors of space. Pakkratius had been just about everywhere in that bulky, sailed, science vessel. Now she was due for an upgrade to further expand her device modules and thus open up more capabilities the Sabine Order would need soon. Pakkratius wanted the monetary credits to be on-hand when he pulled up to Tiberius Shipyards in Primus, Vega. That is why he had decided, against peer advice, to go mining. Earlier today he had taken three job tasks from the station terminal. The jobs sponsors were immaterial by this time in his career. Friendship 7 station in Glenn, Beta Hydri was a centrally located base he'd found to approach that license 135 and be done with all those projects. Afterwords, the Sabine could almost retire as he studied Gate War anomalies, black hole interactions in pirate space, and the so-called "space fish" near the Tada-O corporate gate in Cooper, Beta Hydri. It could have been different. But Pakkratius was extolled by Andronicus Kerr for his ambition. The Sabine Sentinel had wanted to pick up certain milestones in his career. Early on, he had been accepted into the NET-7 SOL's Newsteam and was now a roving correspondent for the newscorp and developing, sovereign, galactic entity. The decision to enter the Collegia's challenge of Agrippa Technologies came over too many shots of Yum-O-Beer at a Collegia party at Arx Emporos. Finally, the notion of being addressed as Doctor Pakkratius, Magister Magna Sabine Order Sentinel, had its own appeal. Thus, the young Progen had slowed his progress far below the usual gun-toting Progen Centuriata Warrior or the newly-funded Collegia Privateers. Thus, today Pakkratius sat in his cockpit, on the cusp of three milestones, watching his targeting display read the Information Friend or Foe, the "IFF". In his sights was a Jenquai vessel. Sensors just then spat out that its hull and wing configuration confirmed the Jenquai as one of those religious devotees of the Sha'ha'dem. Pakkratius' weapons were trained on a Jenquai Explorer. It wasn't enough that the usually tolerated Jenquai was in proximity to Pakkratius. He was a beneficiary twice to their "taxi" services utilizing their mastery of mapped galactic wormholes on two occasions. It was enough that this particular Jenquai Explorer was in his asteroid field. Pakkratius had not been there long, calmly mining asteroids at a gentle and relaxing pace. The Sentinel had been perusing his resume, skill set, and his current credit account. Then that "Jenny" had uncloaked and pulled up in the same asteroid field ring. Pakkratius watched with surprise as the Explorer ship slowed to a stop before one of his job's holographic-marked asteroids and its mining beam activated. The Jenny was mining his 'roids! He sat up fast, forgetting all else and put his hands to his ships controls. Bringing his weapons online and checking his ammunition stores, the Sentinel saw he had more than enough plasma rounds to decimate this thieving Jenny. The sensor rating listed the target as a Grandmaster, a worthy challenge to a Magister Sabine Sentinel. And still the Explorer continued to flit from one marked asteroid to the next like an ancient Earth humming bird and demolish his job's asteroids. Pakkratius swung his vessel around and maneuvered into the path of the Explorer's hunger. To add significance to his presence, he continued his own mining beam to the nearest hydrocarbon deposit. It demolished immediately with the tractor beam hauling in the captured ore. The unfazed Explorer kept its pace by jumping to the far side of the asteroid field and ate another hydrocarbon deposit. Pakkratius had had enough. He thumbed the safety of his weapons off, confirming active status. Power moved in different routes in the Culler. Projectile weapons lit up with charge, ready to unleash deadly plasma rounds. The target may be a 'Grandmaster' but it would be a delicious challenge for a Magister of Pakkratius' caliber to crush and loot the derelict afterwards. His target acquisition ringed, his weapons locking onto the Explorer vessel. He would not miss and he was assuredly going for the kill. All he had to do now was to squeeze that trigger. The critical hits would destroy the Jenny in seconds, especially if caught off-guard. Did that Jenny not know that he was committing a miners' faux pas? Rage built up in Pakkratius as he read again the signifier 'Grandmaster'. He had to be aware that miners did not, by professional courtesy, mine each other's marked fields. Only newbie miners made this kind of insult. All other fields that were not marked by the blue, swirly holographic marks, put upon by the job sponsor, were fair game. First come, first served. Pakkratius's had double-checked the validity of this field of asteroids to be cleared. All of the advanced difficulty asteroids had featured the holographic markings, awaiting clearance. A Grandmaster had to know better! With his palm sweating with the urge to squeeze the weapon trigger, Pakkratius suddenly remembered the SolSec Treaty. The three races, Jenquai, Progen, and Terrans had entered an armistice and later a peace treaty to end the last Gate War. Was a single asteroid field, a shattered politic, and a bruised and impatient ego worth firing upon a weak Jenny? It would only suffer a few hits before fanning his tail wings at the Sentinel before warping off or using his wormhole ability to teleport from harm. Pakkratius' scanners would still detect a cloaked Jenquai, so advanced were they. If the religious nut had faith in his cloakings, he was doomed. Then the incident would be reported, escalated, and diplomats would be burning the midnight oil to return all factions and races to a peaceful treaty state. In the meantime, Pakkratius would most likely be visited by a Reclaimer for lack of patience and foresight. Would a Sabine Sentinel scientist, not a warrior, fire the first shot to end peace and bring horrors of war, death and worse back to the galaxy? In his quandary, Pakkratius watched as the Jenquai Explorer finished mining all but three of the remaining hydrocarbon deposits and the 'roids he had emptied to warp off and towards the ancient sector gate to Capella, to Jenquai space. His hand was still on the controls as the Explorer became a warping and glittering dot in the distance. With a sighing exhale, the Sentinel went to finish of the field with only fraction of the satisfaction he could have if he had fired upon that religious freak Sha'ha'dem. Then he left Swooping Eagle, Sirius in favor of the bar in Friendship 7. There he could drown his fury in a bottle of imported Pro-Vod vodka. *Respect another miner's clearance job field.* Pakkrat

Before I came to the Emulator in September 2012, I had never seen nor heard of multiboxing techniques. It stunned me to see players running so many toons at one time. Here and now in Live, I find that as our population of pilots (not toons) increases, the need to multibox will decrease. The reason for this is that more of us will be available to provide services and aid that Multiboxers had to provide for themselves. With a low population also comes the lack of a thriving economy, hence the need for self-sufficiency. With a proper ecology spread of races and classes, the galaxy is blooming and the needs of a single-craft pilot are starting to become more important and worthier than the needs of a Multiboxer. People want to help each other, far more than Multiboxers want to help each other. Eventually, pilots will either unplug from their hive-mind connections and become citizens of their chosen toon's race, or they will become lonely and self-sufficient gamers whose toons gradually fall off the invite list to raiding and other events. They simply don't need the single-craft pilot. Perhaps they do not yet feel the need to be social in this game. With social behavior comes camaraderie. When camaraderie builds enough, then Guilds are formed. Somewhere down the line, a player might swallow his powergaming ego and actually portray his toon, roleplaying as he games with others. This may seem silly initially, but eventually when the roleplayer picks up steam and a following, the group starts adding more flavor to the game retroactively by having game personality, quirks, preferences, antipathies, competition, and other delicious tidbits that only add to the game. These pilots are not nerds or geeks, fanboys nor game trolls; they're players. With the decline of multiboxing, I believe the game will take up the above attributes, spurring the Developers to continue the feedback as we get into their game and further into the gameworld. It is a feedback loop that all can enjoy. How many pencil and paper table gamers thank their GM, who in turn thanks their players for a good game and a good time well spent? The same can happen here in the Earth & Beyond Emulator. On the soapbox at NET-7 SOL, this is the Pakkrat, (also welcoming a group). PS 132 Builders Inc. Pakkrat Industries - What can PI do for you? Agrippa Masochist Net-7 News and more titles I can't think of right now...

Playing a Sentinel, I feel the un-luv, O. Could you, for our viewers, define the term 'camping'? If the missing fields you recall are not re-populated, do you believe this will lead to some harsh and cutthroat mining practices? Field raids even? I too have heard of pilots powering down their vessels and napping until the asteroid, or more precious hulk, field respawns. Would this change how miners give each other First Come - First Served? Will these 'campers' be hounded as they pull up on a valuable field, to suddenly be raided by other miners as they activate their first mining beam? What social ethics are we teaching pilots new to the spacelanes? I know this sounds a bit in-character coming from a Net-7 reporter, Overt. But the questions and causality are quite real for pilots. Is the answer truly to make more fields? I recall that this iteration of Live is not intended to be the same as the "old live", and sincerely want the issue addressed with the proper modifications. These questions and more from the Pakkrat.

This may be an interlude off the main topic but I had a question, so hear me out please. Say someone has an idea and wants to submit a contribution of content, yet is not a Developer. Case in point, I hit upon some creativity after hearing the gripes for more Glenn Commission Faction opportunities. After some thought on it, I came up with six tiered missions out of NET-7 SOL, (I know....we don't know if they are GC or NET-7 SOL yet). I would like to submit these missions to Developers and see if any of them bite the lure and want to expand on what I've got so far. These missions center around pilots delivering hardcopy news to various stations for whatever individual story reasons. There are six routes and only one can be shortened a little by Jenquai Explorer Wormhole skill, (tack on the damage to the data like trade runs...). Each route has an easy to long-winded length and rewards accordingly once the return item is given to the original mission-giver. Now, I'm not a Developer. I don't know how to do this Developing thing. Yet I /can/ write a story that suspends disbelief long enough to get the missions done. Who can I turn to in order to submit this idea that's burning a hole in my notes? From NET-7 SOL, this is the Pakkrat.

I would like to see a rescue-style escort mission. Thank the stars! It's a *player's class* come with in emergency signal range. My ship's engine is slagged! Can you....: A: Give me a Jumpstart? Then escort me to that starbase over there. B: Escort me, but watch out cus my cargo's hot/hazardous. C: Escort me, but watch out.....so 'n' so nearby mobs don't like me -OR- I didn't pay them tribute for crossing this area of the sector. D: Escort me, but watch out....nasty fauna mobs are nearby and disabled my warp drive. Docking maneuvers engaged: Meet me in the hangar for a cut of my cargo as a reward: NPC says: Thank you, *player name*. Here's a small percentage of what I made, the rest must sadly go into repairs to my vessel. I'll wait here until they're done. Here you go: A: Experience and credits. B: Valuable refined ores. C: Stolen and valuable cargo. D: Mission-only equipment (reactor, shield, weapon, device, but no engine). E: A combination of the above, (bonus bump for Jumpstarters, heh). NPC then is a fixture to the station or despawns after an hour or so. On-location at *enter station name*, this is the Pakkrat.

My prep list included Ibuprofen and a plushie rat to lament to and a shoulder to cry on. Here I sit at OL 111 as a Sentinel as I wait for a Privateer to get off their keister(s) and build me Hull Mesh Laminate III for the Skirmish III Shield. Might I suggest a diversion while you wait for the stars to come 'round into proper positions? Try your hand at Stanig's Progen Funhouse Themepark. It's a series of Progen mission-givers and missions that is meant for OL 25, 50, 60, 75, and 100 and pits the Progen Republic against the piracy of the Red Dragons. Feel good again about being a Progen citizen instead of some Collegia clone. Check out Deschide Porarta (at Arx Emporos), Zieg (at Arx Magister), and Magister Constantinus (at Porvenir Mons). Distracted yet? You should be. The mission line includes some righteous Progen rewards two-thirds the way into the missions. So, suck it up, buttercup cuz they've listened to us wail and lament and slam our foreheads against station bulkheads enough. And now they're beggin' me to make the Sentinel Agrippa device to supplement some later Stage of Agrippa. It sucks you in, man. It ruins your Zen-thing, man. Arrrghrippa! Live from Nostrand Vor, this is the Pakkrat.

A Secret Report within the Sabine - Top Priority- -For Vinda's Eyes Only- It has come to the attention of the Tribunal and Presidium of a trend in Progen Centuriata genome decay. When their findings were brought to the Sabine Order that pilots of the Centuriata were purposely and in abundance overusing the Self-Destruct mechanisms of the Warrior-class vessels, measures were taken to prevent this decay from entering the ranks of the Sabine Order..... Pakkrat, for so his handle went, worked the controls of his hauler vessel furiously. His hands went wildly to engage or cut the port or starboard engines. The stabilizers had all failed in the icy hail of the comet. Many sections of the cargo ship had through penetrations from micrometeors. The haul would not pass inspection this run he thought as his course correction dodged yet another one of the big meteors trailing behind the comet's core. The shields had failed long ago and refused to come back online. He had only the armor of the hauler and life support to keep him alive. Finn was the jerk who had given him this shortcut route, swearing it was free of pirates and could cut days off the trade run. What he failed to mention was that this route, barely mapped at all, was also prone to an annual comet and the meteor shower that followed it. Pakkrat swore that he'd shove the navdisc where the stars didn't shine when next he saw Finn. But for now, Pakkrat had to survive a space hailstorm and hope to all the ancient gods of travel that the bridge of the ship did not get hit. With the cargo sections most likely Swiss cheese by now, the Terran trader had hit the emergency "Never Press" button to lock down the bulkheads and seal off all the corridors of the ship. He, for better or worse, was trapped on the bridge. The vessel, named the Labyrinth Runner, rocked and yawed as another mid-sized rock put a sizeable dent in the hull. Pakkrat was tossed in his web harness, yet somehow he kept his hand on the main attitude control. His will to survive kept the ship from nose-diving into a pock-marked meteor. Sensors blared the warning of proximity to the pilot. But looking out his forward viewport, the Terran merchant could see that this tiny asteroid was strangely hollow with many openings, much like a gigantic sponge. He guessed that it must have been an ancient pyroclastic meteor of some nova or other superheated explosion. The heat had left the rock opened like, well like Swiss cheese. "No use getting creamed out here any longer," Pakkrat muttered to himself as he manually thrusted each of his engines. The warp drive was long slagged and the freezing ice of the comet had seized his communications, the IFF transponder, and destroyed the emergency distress beacon. With some heavy turns and a dodge or two, the Terran trader edged his way down inside a crater of the meteor and slowed his approach. With only one forward light left, he was forced to match the spin of the asteroid and make way deeper and slowly. It took a while for the sensors to map the passages though the igneous rock. At last the gravitic sensors told Pakkrat that the Labyrinth Runner had reached the center, deep within and away from the deadly space hail. The trader set the vessel down on the smoothest stone he could find and used a docking claw to hold the ship to it. Just then the port engine sputtered and died. Pakkrat's heart sank. With options fading fast, Pakkrat did the last thing he could think of before entering the emergency cryostasis capsule. It was many decades later that a Progen mining operation found the comet off the beaten path and on the rim of the solar system that it traveled. The miners' mission was to find sources of space ice and collect it for its water as well as look for potential fields rich in iron, nickel, and other structure metals. The Warthog, was the Progen mining vessel to first detect the strange radiations emitting faintly from a particular asteroid. Instead of being radioactive itself, the asteroid was 'glowing' from within, inside its core. Sensors picked up the radiation, noting its half-life, identifying the substance as enriched Uranium, now banned by the SolSec Treaty for its use in weapons. Fusion energy had long replaced the substance's more peaceful applications. But why here, asked the crew of the Warthog. Mining beams and tractors lifted huge chunks of the asteroid as they stripped it of its porous outer surfaces. Ice and stone gave way and were pulled in, separated and processed for later refining. The Progen were now curious as to what this "Easter egg", so named because it was on the spinward side of this sector in space. The Warthog finally exposed the long obsolete Terran vessel. It was frozen in blocks of thick ice. All of the vessel's main power was offline and only the radiation signature from the cargo section betrayed its presence. "Vita Theodora, there goes our claim to this mining site," said the Progen foreman. "The Terrans got here before us." The captain, using a scope sensor device looked at the vessel's name and its registry character-string. "Labyrinth Runner, eh?" he pondered aloud. "Let's crack her open and have a look inside. She don't look like a miner to me." Standing in the rear of the bridge of the Warthog was the operation's only science officer, a Reclaimer of the Sabine Order. He was looking at another set of sensors until now unchecked by the miners. By focussing on the bridge did the Reclaimer, named Talus-M Ravindran, found the faint life signs of a single Terran. He registered a single active cryostasis field and capsule. While the miners deliberated how to bow out of the operation with as little evidence they were ever present, Talus-M suggested a salvage operation. Surely the Terrans would appreciate finding their vessel and its cargo if they found it themselves. "If we were to repair and restart the derelict ship's reactor then activate its distress beacon, eventually the Terrans will detect it." "Hmm," said the captain of the Warthog, a Progen mining specialist, "then we could take what we wanted, change the cargo registry and make off with no one the wiser." The miners still had not looked for the Terran who was still alive on the bridge. If Talus-M was quick, he could see to the Terran on the bridge while the miners plundered the cargo. With radiation-shielded suits, a man-portable mining laser, and several containers, the Progen sliced into the port side aft bulkhead nearest to the cargo sections. While the miners worked to search and salvage, the Reclaimer used the laser to cut his way to the bridge in order to "make changes to the cargo invoice". Alone, he made way onto the bridge. A thick layer of frost coated the bridge's panels, instrumentation, and controls. Talus-M went to repair the distress beacon and used some spare parts to empower the device. But he did not yet activate it. Once on, the beacon could be detected over the entire sector. The Progen were not supposed to be ranging this far into Terran space to begin with. Then the Reclaimer went to the cryostasis capsule that held the secret only he knew. For he had shut off the sensor bank that detected life back on the Warthog, Talus-M was the only Progen who knew that someone still lived aboard the craft. Now he could not rescue the Terran, nor could he do the hapless Terran a favor of death. So, he did the one thing he could think of to honor the sleeping trader. While the miners made off with cargoes and changed the lists in the only computer bank they could restore, Talus-M performed the Call Forward by taking enough samples of the sleeping Terran's gene-map. This man had wanted to survive. This Terran wanted to live and did everything he could to survive the comet field, the ice, and his battered ship. Surely such traits were worthy of Calling Forward. He could turn in the stolen gene-map to the Sabine Reclaimers who would know best what to do with the genome he had captured. With the Centuriata reaching wreckless and almost suicidal abandon in their battles with the Jenquai, the Sabine had decided to quell such tendencies within their own ranks. Stowing the collected gene-map in his pack, Talus-M Ravindran then went to the repaired distress beacon. "The beacon's about to go online, " he reported through a comlink on his spacesuit's vambrace, "get what you want and meet back at the Warthog, team." Before he closed the cryostasis capsule again, the Reclaimer took note of the name on the lapel of the sleeping Terran. "Pakkrat," he whispered, "sleep well." Then he left the bridge the way he came. The Warthog had not plundered everything but made off with enough of each type of cargo stored in the hold in order to make the Labyrinth Runner look as if she were making a light haul through a shortcut in space. With the invoices changed in the ship's records, no one would think twice about it. No one but the Pakkrat, thought Talus-M, even if he was rescued. With the Progen safely back aboard their mining vessel, they remote activated the distress beacon. Instantly, the Labyrinth Runner was calling for help and transmitting its coordinates sector-wide. Reverse-thrusting, the Warthog quietly backed out of the comet field and made off with a mining haul, salvage loot, and the Terran Federation could be happy to have an expensive ship back from the depths of space. Yet, Talus-M knew it would be some time before anyone looked into this sector. It would be good to be long gone with his own loot and back to the Sabine Order with the find. The gene-map was analyzed by the Sabine Order of Reclaimers. Talus-M was rewarded, extolled and given certificates of re-iteration, guaranteeing his genome line's future. Named, "the Pakkrat Master Genome", it went into study for its traits of adaptability, a desire to succeed, a tinge of greed, a need to survive, and a passion for travel. Years later the gene-map was authorized, in secret, for use. Using Terran genes introduced into Progen matricies was almost heresy, right under the use of genes from the hated Jenquai. Yet over time and by ultra-secret whisperings, the gene-map had gained some sort of reputation blown out of proportion by rumor and speculation. With the Centuriata's overuse of their Self-Destruct mechanisms, overblown sense of glory and gene immortality, their blindness to the decay threatened to spread to other orders of the Republic. It was a then-young Vinda herself who plucked the "Pakkrat Master Genome" from storage and introduced it into a new Progen Versatile matrix. With a little tweaking, the conception was iterated and the Call Forward began. She did this in private and had many other gene-maps of worthy and fallen specimens also present to cover this Terran one's presence. The Progen male was allowed to form, gestate, and be further modified by the best that Sabine genetic engineering could spare in secret labs on Arx Prima, away from the prying eyes of the Tribunal. With the introduction of Terran gene traits into a Progen matrix, the Sabine were given a freshly-gleaned new lease on immortality. She named him "Pakkratius", using an ancient latin version to name the Pakkrat genome iteration. Who knew what the original Terran donor's true name was? As far as Vinda knew, the Terrans had still to discover the derelict on the borderlands of Terran space. The young and eager Versatile Pakkratius showed a remarkable initiative, particularly in the fields covered by the Sabine Order. This was favorable as many teachers and instructors mistook the lad's eagerness to be similar to the gusto of those Progen drawn to the Centuriata and the Warrior's Way. This was not so, because the young man displayed aptitudes in sciences and mathematics. But the true test came when the graduating student announced a desire to record the glories of the Progen Republic through journalism. This stunned many of the deans of the various colleges. Vinda would have their heads for the Reclaimers, so they thought. But at the graduation ceremony, the newly-appointed head of the Sabine Order, Vinda congratulated the heads of staff. Then, from behind the scenes, she saw to it that the young Progen entered the Sabine to become a journalist as well a scientist for the Order. It was also about this time that the Collegia seceded from the Sabine Order, branching off to compete with Terran corporations in hopes of breaking the monopolies of InfinitiCorp and GETCo. The Republic needed to break free of crystallized markets of Earth. It was not known if Vinda was aware or was a mastermind of planting another, even more secret operative Pakkrat clone into the Collegia. Designated Pakkrateus, with a change of name pronunciation accent into Greek roots. This young entrepreneur was hardly looked upon by Vinda as Collegia leader Zieg shook hands with yet another protege graduating that day. Was this iteration a means to keeping track of Zieg and his Collegiates? Well, one does not earn friends in politics. One grows them from designated gene-maps and sets them up as soldiers in a battle for power. But this iteration from the Collegia was a story for another time. And far off in distant, Terran borderland space, a lone Terran's distress signal was received by a passing, unmanned probe and relayed by masercom back to InfinitiCorp's office at Earth Station. A lunar month passed before permits could be gathered and papers signed for a salvage operation to the distant comet. The original Terran trader spent another six months in a recuperative coma to slowly return to the world of the conscious. Then, true to InfinitCorp credo, old and dusty employment contracts were called into play and the original Pakkrat was put into a newly re-designed Trader ship and re-christened Labyrinth Runner. To this day, Sabine Reclaimers are silent about the spiritual side effects of the Call Forward. Who knows what the process of being Called Forward does to the soul of one still living? Is it fractured and shared with the offspring iteration, (or in this case iterations)? Are the clones soul-less? Is there some unseen connection between the Called and its clones? Across the vastness of space, three separate beings sharing the same gene-map with different destinies moved through the known galaxy. To what purpose was the original Pakkrat's cargo intended? Why did InfinitiCorp spend such funds to recover the Labyrinth Runner, its pilot, and its cargo? And what of the strange mark on the Terran patient's upper arm? Terran med-scans of the day failed to identify the nature of the tiny puncture through the arm. Buried under piles of corporate bureaucracy, the file on the Pakkrat and his mission was viewed by only one person, the Lady DeWinter. Were the DeWinters working through the trader's fixer, Finn? Surely, the coordinates for the discarded route the Pakkrat took had to have been condemned and and yet made available to the fixer. Queens and their pawns moved on the board. (I hope this was enjoyable. -P)

Throwing in, The desire to roleplay and share that experience is the main reason I hooked up with the Net-7 reporting program. So, this is my support post. Tomorrow's News today! This is the Pakkrat.

To respond, I put forth the disco lounge, (if it's still there) at Jove's Fury station, Jupiter sector to gather roleplayers. It was by far the most interesting station in the game and not very far off from any one race/class. The center of commerce and building may have been Friendship 7 in Glenn sector, but the new building mechanics may change which stations we utilize. Jupiter sector is one with a view and is conveniently very close to the gate to Saturn sector. Will the Devs do much more for roleplayers? Doubtful as they have so much more to prioritize given the current affairs of the Emulator. Roleplayers will have to work on making due with what is currently in the game. As Earth & Beyond came far prior to other games such as City of Heroes, EVE-Online, World of WarCraft, and the like, the chances that it will lend itself to roleplaying will be up to the initiatives of the players. Via satellite, this is the Pakkrat.

Justice, If you want dissect the gameworld, have a look at the EnB timeline by Albino Eatpod that was re-posted by Mynd. Just search 'Timeline' in the Forum's search box. It's a relatively long document. Long enough to wet your doctoral whistle. For Net-7 News, this is the Pakkrat.

I was not in Strength & Honor in Live, but I remember them well. From an ol Knighthawks Guildie to S&H: Welcome back, all. For Net-7 News, this is the Pakkrat Pakkrat Industries - What can PI do for you?

I would happily be willing to do voice acting for Net-7 News reports along these lines. I've been told I can do many different voices and a News Anchor is not that hard to accomplish. For Net-7 News, this is the Pakkrat.